Improvement in railway-car brakes



Patented June 2,1874.

Win/56m UNITED STATES PATENT Orrro GEORGE W. HOPPER, OF BALTIMORE,MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- FOURTH HIS RIGHT TO WILLIAM H. HARRIS, OFSAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY-CAR BRAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 151,593, dated June 2,1874; application filed May 8, 1874.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. HOPPER, of Baltimore, in the State ofMaryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-BrakeAttachments and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference beinghad to theaccompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in whichFigure 1 represents, in perspective, so much of a car-brake as willillustrate my invention. Fig. 2 represents a horizontal section throughthe same.

My invention relates, first, to the manner of uniting the brake block orshoe to the brakebar and, secondly, to the manner of hanging thebrake-bar to the truck-frame.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iwillproceed to describe the same with reference to the drawin gs.

The brake block or shoe is shown at A. It is of metal, in a singlepiece, and, by preference, of cast-iron. The face of the brake-block maybe shaped or formed as at a I), so as to fit and work against both thetread and flange of the car-wheel. Through this brake-block is made arectangular opening, which takes in the end of the brake-barB; and, whenthe block or shoe is properly adjusted upon the bar B, it is securelyfastened there by a setscrew, 0, the point of which takes into acountersink, (Z, of which there are several in the bar. The brake-bar Bis of metal, and through it passes the brake-rod O, by which the brakeis applied in the usual well-known ways. The hanger D, by which thebrake-bar is suspended from the truck-frame, is both swiveled andhinged, as follows The shank e of the holder E, upon which the nut f isrun, turns freely in the brake-bar B, and the hanger D is pivoted to theholder E, as at 9, so that the hanger can hinge on the joint 9, andswivel on the shank 0. By giving this hanger adouble movement, or a'swivel-joint movement, the brake-blocks are freely moved up to thewheels, and as readily fall away when released; but a greater advantageis, that if the brake-rod 0 should happen to get bent, as it is veryliable to do from its exposed position, in which case but one of theblocks would come up to the wheel, then this swivel-joint will allow thebrake-bar B to skew a little, and so let both blocks come against theirrespective wheels.

\Vhat I claim is 1. In combination with the shoe A, having opening intowhich the brake-bar enters, and brake-bar B, the set-screw andcountersinks, by which the shoe is connected and adjusted, as set forth.

- 2. In combination with the shoe A, brakebar B, and brake-rod O, theswivel-joint han ger E D, as and for the purpose set-forth.

GEORGE W. HOPPER.

Witnesses:

R. HEWITT, JAMES F. HEYWARD.

